Events: how to combat the effects of COVID-19
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic we have seen most of the world’s events postponed or cancelled, events such as the Tokyo Olympics, Glastonbury Festival, Wimbledon, Matchroom Boxing at the O2 Arena, Mixed Martial Arts (UFC 249) and the Football (Copa América & UEFA for example) not to mention musical tours (Justin Bieber, Iron Maiden, Camila Cabello for example) and concerts and festivals (Montreux Jazz Festival cancelled for the first time in 53 years, Tomorrow Land 2020).
The question is how will the effects of COVID-19 impact future major events and mass gatherings and how will physical and technical security be impacted across the globe? With many businesses and individuals out of work who heavily rely on the events industry for their income, I know of several struggling businesses and individuals who operate on a freelance bases who hop between major events here in the GCC region and have been for years, they now find themselves out of work and are left in limbo as to when the events industry kicks off again, will it be this year or even longer? Q1 2021 for example? All of these questions are unknown at this time but one thing is certain, we will be seeing an effect long into the future on businesses and individuals.